CBN Europe is part of the global ministry of The Christian Broadcasting Network, founded by Dr Pat Robertson in 1961.

Over six decades after its humble beginnings in the defunct Portsmouth, VA, TV station, no one can dispute that CBN is one of the largest television ministries in the world. Yet, with its strong international network, CBN goes beyond the bounds of broadcasting to reach the world with tangible aid and a message of hope from the Bible.

Founded on January 11, 1960, CBN first went on air on October 1, 1961, on WYAH-TV (from Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God), a UHF television station with barely enough power to reach across the Portsmouth city limits. With a modest income from a few local supporters, CBN began broadcasting live half-hour programs every night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM.

History of CBN Europe
Established as a non-profit in the United Kingdom in the year 2002, the charity officially began its operations from January 2004. The charity was set up as the headquarters for CBN’s ministry in Europe.

We started the broadcast with a regional TV station in Swindon. This was followed by satellite broadcasts on the GOD TV channel (reaching UK/Ireland as well as a global reach – all the way to India!).

With humble beginnings of a small team, we sent out programming on Beta-cam tapes via courier delivery to various TV stations in the UK and Europe. Our first website was launched in 2006, which kickstarted our fundraising initiatives. In 2008, we moved from God TV to Revelation TV, which was broadcasting the daily 700 Club (customised for Europe), pointing viewers to our website and prayer line. We started to air the CBN telethons three times a year (January, May, September) which was instrumental for us to grow our donor database. Our prayer centre was based in Standish, about 3 hours from our administrative office in Hereford. We operated in a former Salvation Army building, answering the growing number of calls from our TV broadcasts.

Through the broadcasts of the 700 Club, viewers learned about the various pillars of the ministry including Media, Operation Blessing and Orphan’s Promise. As we raised more designated funds for our humanitarian relief, we were able to support humanitarian missions in Europe. Slowly, the number of projects grew in the Europe region, such as helping Roma communities in Ukraine and Bulgaria, medical missions in Albania and disaster relief in Italy. Over the years, our humanitarian work grew from strength to strength. You will see more of this later within this overview.

In the early years of CBN Europe’s ministry, our former director, Mr Peter Darg, pioneered the work in French-speaking countries in Africa and established CBN Africa Francophone with its headquarters in Dakar, Senegal. We launched the French version of the 700 Club (Le Club 700) with our hosts, Pastor Raymond Koffi and Macy Domingo. This programme is still touching thousands of viewers today across the French speaking countries in Africa. Other French programmes were launched and a recording studio in Brussels was established. Many humanitarian programmes were launched including water wells, cleft-lip palate surgeries, medical missions, hunger relief and agricultural programmes.

In 2007, we established our second office in Europe: in Hamburg, Germany. The German, subtitled version of the 700 Club (Club 700) was established and aired on Bibel TV to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Eventually, we started production of a weekly, dubbed programme. Recorded in our Brussels studio, the programme connected with viewers who called in for prayer and donations. Over time, CBN Deutschland grew both in reach and in the number of supporting partners, helping us to introduce CBN’s humanitarian work.

Also in 2007, we started production of the Italian programme “Dritto al Cuore” which means “straight from the heart”, which aired weekly on a major secular TV network, reaching a substantial audience. This show was re-aired on 70 TV stations throughout Italy for a 26-week run.

In 2008 CBN provided financial support to help develop a TV production studio and satellite Christian channel in Timisoara, Romania. Today, Alpha Omega is the number one Christian media ministry in Romania, broadcasting on multiple satellite and cable channels. They produce a weekly version of The 700 Club and Christian World News.

Furthermore, we launched a Soup Kitchen and an agricultural project called SEED (Something to Eat Every Day) in Bulgaria, providing Roma communities with an opportunity to feed their families and income generation. We also partnered with a ministry providing support to children and mothers in an impoverished neighbourhood in the outskirts of Tirana, Albania.

In 2010 our CBN UK office moved to a new location in the Hereford city centre, across from the Hereford Cathedral.

In 2011, CBN launched the new “Superbook” animated Bible series, based on the classic “Superbook” series. As we translated Superbook in more European languages, the Lord opened many doors to the hearts and homes of children and their families, who now could learn about the Bible in a new and exciting way. We entered into a partnership with a ministry in Wales, bringing Superbook to many primary schools. To date, this partnership continues and we are impacting more than 800 pupils on a weekly basis through Religious Education classes with Superbook. Today, across the region, Superbook is impacting children and families in 25 languages!

Our European media ministry began to expand further into countries such as Hungary, where CBN’s 700 Club was ranked the top-rated show in its time period, even improving on MTV’s ratings. CBN programming expanded to more channels in the UK, The Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Iceland, Germany, Finland and Albania.

In 2013 we brought our prayer centre operations to Hereford, where we continued to build united, as one team. What was once a 4-page newsletter has developed into the monthly “Reach” partner magazine, sent out to our donors in the post and via email. The magazine and website developed into significant tools to connect with our donors and to tell them about the impact of their giving. We started a collaboration with a local food bank, providing finance and spiritual support to struggling families. We launched the Superbook DVD Club, helping us to raise more finance for the development of Superbook ministry in the UK and Europe.

In 2014, we launched the Superbook Church Curriculum to help churches with their Sunday school programme. Over time, this resource developed into what is now called Superbook Academy, containing videos, lesson plans and activities. We also launched a brand new Superbook Kids website where children could learn more about the Bible in a fun and interactive way.

In 2015, CBN programming was introduced to a new Christian TV channel (TBN UK), providing us with new opportunities to reach viewers with the Gospel message. This resulted in increased call volumes during our mid-day slot. We partnered with UCB UK to broadcast the new Superbook series to viewers in the UK and Ireland.

In 2016 we established CBN Balkan with its headquarters in Croatia. Ms Vanja Bule, who is originally from Bosnia and studied at CBN’s Regent University in Virginia Beach, USA, became the new CBN Balkan director. We started our ministry in Croatia, further expanding into Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. Today, CBN Balkan is a thriving ministry focused on Superbook children’s ministry as well as Operation Blessing and Orphan’s Promise relief programmes.

Also in 2016, we deployed teams to Calais, France, to assist refugees with tents, rain ponchos, clothing, food and water.

In 2017, our former director, Mr Peter Darg, retired and handed the baton to Mr Mark Dijkens. A special celebration was held in London where we celebrated Peter’s years of service to CBN together with over 100 CBN partners. This was a milestone in CBN Europe’s young history.

Also in 2017, we moved to newly rented premises in Hereford, where the Lord further established our CBN Europe headquarters. Named ‘The Anvil’, our new headquarters certainly became a place where the Lord forged many new connections, sparking extensive ministry activities across the region. This was also the birth of our UK based media ministry as we begun to record local testimonies and social media content. Our broadcast ministry expanded further into Europe, with Superbook airing in 19 languages in 12 countries. Superbook premiered on national TV in Poland as well as in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We partnered with Vision Christian Media in Australia and New Zealand, introducing Superbook to the churches and families. We strengthened our partnership with existing TV channels in Australia and New Zealand and introduced Superbook to our Australasia viewership. Superbook DVDs were launched into the large Christian bookstores and we established the Superbook DVD Club and Superbook Academy for churches.

In 2018 our European broadcast reach increased to 15 languages on 37 TV stations across Europe. We also started our digital transformation and launched a small production studio in our Hereford office. We started our CBN Europe YouTube channel and further developed our social media presence.

The broadcasts of Superbook in Poland opened many doors for ministry. We partnered with various ministries and churches around Superbook screenings and events, summer camps and participation in the “Week of Jesus” in Warsaw.

Superbook was aired at Christmas time on one of the most popular TV stations in Macedonia. In Croatia, we teamed up with 15 churches in Zagreb to show Superbook to 400 children and adults. The event was held in the headquarters of the Croatian Army. In Bulgaria, we started a Superbook ‘roadshow’ outreach, visiting remote villages to show Superbook to the children. This ministry continues to today.

In 2019 our broadcast ministry expanded further into Scandinavia, engaging viewers from Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Estonia with the ministry.

We strengthened our collaborations between our offices in the UK, Germany and Croatia in order to establish new projects within the CBN ‘Family of Ministries’. As a result, we launched new projects including a medical outreach in Albania, supporting prisoners and their families in Croatia and a youth project in Serbia to prepare training and support to young adults.

This was also the year when the global Covid pandemic started, which resulted in huge increases in online viewership and engagement. We rebranded our CBN Prayer Line as the CBN Hope Line and created new resources to bring hope, namely the CBN “Let Hope Arise” booklet. We continued to strengthen our digital platforms including the Superbook Bible App, the CBN Family App and our YouTube channels. We introduced new languages and episodes to the Superbook Bible app, including Albanian, Croatian, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian. With a growing diverse demographic and outlook, the app also provides more world languages including Farsi, Arabic, Mandarin and more languages that cater to the many language groups in Europe.

In 2020, we launched CBN Portugal, a new initiative to share the Gospel message to Portugal. In partnership with the Portugal Evangelical Alliance, we premiered Superbook in European Portuguese on national channel RTP2. This partnership continues to grow stronger every year. Superbook Academy online resources are used in many primary schools in Portugal. CBN programming now airs on 5 TV channels in Portugal.

2020 also saw an open door in France – with the first airing of Superbook on France 2 – one of the national TV channels. These broadcasts were also aired across metropolitan France and overseas French territories including Andorra, Monaco and Tunisia.

As many families struggled during the global pandemic, CBN’s Operation Blessing teams organised various food distributions through our various offices in the region including Croatia, Germany and the United Kingdom. Many families were blessed through this valuable outreach.

In 2021, CBN’s office and operations in Ukraine and the former Soviet Union became part of the CBN Europe region and family. For more than 30 years, CBN’s mission and registered charity organisation “Emmanuil” has shared the Gospel message through production of Christian programming in Ukrainian and Russian language, Superbook ministry and humanitarian relief projects through Operation Blessing and Orphan’s Promise.

On 24 February 2022 Russia started a full-scale war with Ukraine, causing millions of Ukrainians having to flee from their homes and families. Over 6 million refugees fled Ukraine, with the vast majority settling in European countries including Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. Millions of refugees fled into neighbouring Poland.

As soon as the war started, Operation Blessing teams deployed to the Poland – Ukraine border to provide immediate assistance to many mothers and children fleeing the violence. Many had lost their homes and experienced severe trauma. The weather was very cold with freezing temperatures. We set up a large, heated tent at the Medyka border crossing, where refugees could warm up, receive hot food and drinks, charge their phones and receive support and prayer. We set up a Superbook kids area where children could watch Superbook in Ukrainian language, play with toys and make drawings. We referred many people to shelters in local churches, where they were received with love and compassion.

Our Ukrainian Superbook activity team visited many shelters and churches, organising children’s events to provide moments of joy and happiness. We distributed many food boxes, providing much needed assistance to many displaced mothers and their children.

We set up warehouse operations in Poland and Ukraine, to distribute food and hygiene supplies to families in need. In Ukraine we partnered with a network of more than 100 churches to provide relief, reaching as far as the eastern war zone. We set up a bread distribution, providing fresh loaves of bread to thousands of beneficiaries.

For many years, we have operated Orphan’s Promise projects in Ukraine, including our training centres where many children and teenagers attend the ‘School of Life’ and receive valuable skills for life, helping them to become responsible adults. We work extensively with the Roma communities in western Ukraine, which has brought transformation to many children and adults through our SEED programme (Something to Eat Every Day). Since the war started, we had to adapt to operate in very harsh conditions. We provided power generators to our training centres, trauma care for children and moved various operations that were close to the war zone to safer locations. We work with incredible brave women and men in Ukraine who continue to serve our beneficiaries with the love of Christ, putting their lives at risk every single day. We thank the Lord for His continued provision and protection, allowing us to bring hope through all we do.

When the Russians destroyed the Kakhovka Dam, causing extensive flooding in the Kherson region, our teams provided emergency assistance to displaced families, providing food, clean water, bread and water pumps to help restoring homes.

 In July 2022 we established the Operation Blessing Poland Foundation, helping us to support people affected by war and natural disasters. The Foundation has been instrumental to support our procurement of food and hygiene items to support our disaster relief efforts in Ukraine and Poland.

We established an Orphan’s Promise training centre in Warsaw, providing support, education and integration classes to women and children.

On 6 February 2023, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. This is the largest earthquake to date in Turkey since the 1939 earthquake of similar magnitude. It was felt as far as Egypt and the Black Sea coast of Turkey. There was widespread damage in an area of about 350,000 km2, about the size of Germany. The confirmed death toll in Turkey was 53,537 and 8,476 in Syria. As such, this was the deadliest natural disaster in modern history. UN experts estimated that about 1.5 million people were left homeless.

CBN’s Operation Blessing deployed close to the epicentre in Antakya, setting up a warehouse and food distribution to many displaced people. Together with Orphan’s Promise teams we provided long term care for families and children, supporting them in their recovery.

Later this year, on 8 September 2023, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco’s Al Haouz Province. The epicentre was 73km southwest of Marrakesh, causing at least 2,960 deaths. The damage was widespread and many historic landmarks were destroyed. The earthquake was also felt in Spain, Portugal and Algeria. Over 2.8 million people from Marrakesh and areas surrounding the Atlas mountains were affected, including many children.

Operation Blessing Disaster Relief teams deployed to the region, providing food, clean water and filtration systems, blankets, solar lights. We were able to reach vulnerable villages, some of which had still not received aid days after the quake. From the onset of the tragedy to months later, we helped and restored some sense of normalcy to people who had lost everything.

Our CBN offices in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands and Poland assisted our outreaches in Turkey and Morocco through regular updates on The 700 Club, social media and fundraising appeals, as well as logistic assistance with food procurement, distribution and administrative support.

In 2024 we appointed Mrs Alisa Latty-Alleyne as our new CBN UK & Ireland Director. This will help us to further the ministry in the UK, in alignment with the vision Alisa received from the Lord of one million salvations through the CBN family of ministries. With a strong focus on evangelism, discipleship and digital transformation, our CBN UK ministry will be able to connect with many more people, sharing hope in Jesus. A new initiative that focuses on powerful testimonies is iTestify, a new platform that shares stories of transformation. With the launch of our brand new CBN UK studio, we are able to create inspiring and culturally relevant content to introduce many people to the love of God in Jesus, and connect them with the ministry of CBN.

On 18 April 2024, we also registered CBN Nederland as a non-profit organisation in The Netherlands. Chris Karelse leads the small but promising office, helping us to share the Good News of Jesus to Dutch speaking territories. Grateful for a key partnership with Family 7, the main Christian cable TV channel, the 700 Club, Jerusalem Dateline (subtitled in Dutch) and Superbook (dubbed in Dutch language) are broadcast. We are in the process to develop Superbook Academy for churches, to empower a new generation with the truth of God’s Word.

In closing, we are thankful for the new season we are in, and how the Lord is growing CBN Europe’s infrastructure, impact and reach. With the help of our faithful CBN Partners, together we can bring hope to thousands of people every day. The CBN family of ministries work hand in hand to impact lives for now and eternity. To God be all the glory!